Assessing the Problem of Human Capital Mismatch in Transition Economies

36 Pages Posted: 12 Jun 2002

See all articles by Viliam Druska

Viliam Druska

Charles University in Prague - CERGE-EI, a joint workplace of Charles University and the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Byeongju Jeong

Charles University in Prague - CERGE-EI, a joint workplace of Charles University and the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Michal Kejak

Charles University in Prague - CERGE-EI, a joint workplace of Charles University and the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Viatcheslav Vinogradov

Charles University in Prague - CERGE-EI, a joint workplace of Charles University and the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Date Written: March 2002

Abstract

In transition economies, there may be a significant mismatch between the types of skills that workers possess and the types of skills that the new economy demands. We consider this problem of human capital mismatch along the dimensions of training type (holding the level) and occupation. We document that in the Czech Republic and Poland the wage rate grew faster in business occupations than in technical occupations in the 1990's, and that in response the technical training/occupations contracted while the business training/occupations expanded. We do not find this pattern in Hungary. We construct a neoclassical model with endogenous occupational choice and calibrate it to the Czech and Polish data. We estimate that the discounted sum of output loss due to human capital mismatch amounts to 44% of the aggregate output of the beginning year of transition.

Keywords: human capital, mismatch, occupation, training

Suggested Citation

Druska, Viliam and Jeong, Byeongju and Kejak, Michal and Vinogradov, Viatcheslav, Assessing the Problem of Human Capital Mismatch in Transition Economies (March 2002). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=282993 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.282993

Viliam Druska

Charles University in Prague - CERGE-EI, a joint workplace of Charles University and the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences ( email )

Politickych veznu 7
Prague, 111 21
Czech Republic

HOME PAGE: http://www.cerge-ei.cz

Byeongju Jeong (Contact Author)

Charles University in Prague - CERGE-EI, a joint workplace of Charles University and the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences ( email )

Politickych veznu 7
Prague, 111 21
Czech Republic

HOME PAGE: http://www.cerge-ei.cz

Michal Kejak

Charles University in Prague - CERGE-EI, a joint workplace of Charles University and the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences ( email )

Politickych veznu 7
Prague, 111 21
Czech Republic

HOME PAGE: http://www.cerge-ei.cz

Viatcheslav Vinogradov

Charles University in Prague - CERGE-EI, a joint workplace of Charles University and the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences ( email )

Politickych veznu 7
Prague, 111 21
Czech Republic

HOME PAGE: http://www.cerge-ei.cz